NHS Scotland is
already investing more than £22 million to deliver sustainable
improvements in the time it takes to see patients.
With waiting times
dramatically reduced since 2007, the Scottish Government is continuing to work
with boards to drive further improvements.
The announcement
comes as latest ISD statistics show that the vast majority of boards continue
to meet the 18 weeks referral to treatment target.
Eleven health
boards meet the 18 weeks referral to treatment target. This has resulted in
snapshot statistics for the NHS nationally marginally below the 90 per cent
standard for patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral at 89.6
per cent. The three mainland boards are below the standard are already
investing to improve performance.
Performance
against the 12 week legal treatment time guarantee is at 97.3 per cent over the
winter period, which brings added pressures for the NHS.
However new
figures from NHS boards show investment in meeting waiting times targets
continues to be strong across Scotland – reaching more than £22
million already with further investment expected over the course of this
year.
Examples of
investment identified include:
- NHS
Grampian is investing £7 million to improve waiting times in a number of
specialties, including orthopaedics, general surgery and urology. This will
involve the recruitment of around 74 (WTE) staff including doctors, nurses
clinical and support staff
- NHS
Lothian are investing nearly £6 million to increase capacity by
recruiting around 80 (WTE) staff comprising consultants, nurses and other
clinical support covering specialties including ENT, ophthalmology and
orthopaedics
- Forth
Valley is investing around £750,000 to recruit five new consultants
specialising in rheumatology, gastroenterology and respiratory medicine. They
are also working on an investment plan for orthopaedics
The Golden Jubilee
National Hospital is also investing £5.5 million and this will increase
the capacity in orthopaedics and ophthalmology. The board are planning to
further expand later this year for these services which will come into effect
around October – this investment will increase orthopaedic capacity by an
additional 300 operations to around 3,300 and ophthalmology (mainly cataracts)
to around 3,600 procedures.
This will include
the recruitment of 45 WTE new doctors, consultants and nurses. This will
benefit patient from across Scotland. They are also investing around
£850,000 in the Golden Jubilee’s west of Scotland Heart and Lung
Centre to address the increasing demand this includes six new nursing
posts.
Health Secretary
Alex Neil said:
“Waiting
times in our NHS have improved dramatically since 2007 – when targets
meant some people had to wait 6 months for a first appointment.
“But we must
continue to cut waits and target areas where performance does not reach the
standards we expect.
“That is why
it is extremely encouraging that boards are able to invest in speeding up
treatment times thanks to our decision to protect NHS funding. Already we have
seen more than £22 million of investment to increase capacity and I have
no doubt that will increase over the year as plans are developed.
“Overall, 11
of 15 boards have achieved the 18 week target, while most boards continue to
perform strongly against the 12 week legal treatment time guarantee.
“But we are
seeing problems in certain boards which then affect the overall
figures.
“Each of
these boards already have clear actions plans in place to ensure that they are
working to address the reasons behind their poor performance so that they can
treat patients faster.”
Background
The four boards
failing to meet the target are Grampian, Lothian, Forth Valley and Western
Isles. Western Isles has addressed the issue which impacted on poor performance
and they expect to deliver the 18 weeks standard by the end of the next
quarter.
NHS BOARDS PLANS
TO INCREASE CAPACITY IN 2014/15
- NHS
Ayrshire and Arran is investing around £1.7 million and is recruiting
around 50 WTE staff including consultants, nursing and other clinical support
staff in such specialties as orthopaedics, urology and general
surgery
- NHS
Borders is investing £241,000. This includes recruiting 2 new staff in
neurology, oral surgery and ophthalmology
- NHS
Grampian is investing £7 million to improve waiting times in a number of
specialties, including orthopaedics, general surgery and urology. This will
involve the recruitment of around 74 (WTE) staff including doctors, nurses
clinical and support staff
- NHS
Lanarkshire is investing £270,000, in some specialties including
orthopaedics and urology which will include the recruitment of 5 additional WTE
staff
- NHS
Greater Glasgow and Clyde is investing £390,000 in ophthalmology and this
will recruit 10 additional staff
- NHS
Lothian are investing nearly £6 million to increase capacity by
recruiting around 80 (WTE) staff comprising consultants, nurses and other
clinical support covering specialties including ENT, ophthalmology and
orthopaedics
Golden Jubilee
National Hospital is investing £5.5 million and this will increase the
capacity in orthopaedics and ophthalmology. The Board are planning to further
expand later this year for these services which will come into effect around
October – this investment will increase orthopaedic capacity by an
additional 300 operations to around 3,300 and ophthalmology (mainly cataracts)
to around 3,600 procedures. This will include the recruitment of 45 WTE new
doctors, consultants and nurses. They are also investing around £850,000
in the Golden Jubilee’s west of Scotland Heart and Lung Centre to address
the increasing demand this includes six new nursing posts.
From the
information above this equates to a total investment in NHS Scotland capacity
of more than £22 million with around 271 additional staff being
recruited.
Activity
The NHS is
constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of the people of Scotland. In
recent years there has been a sharp increase in the use of the NHS.
- Performance shows that the NHS is treating more patients
than ever
- NHS
Scotland is seeing considerably more patients now than in 2006/07
- Day cases
have grown by over 50,000 (12.3%) to 455,800 in 2012/13
- Inpatient
cases have increased by over 94,000 (or 10.3 %) to 1,005,595 in
2012/13
- Outpatient cases have increased by over 165,000 (or
3.7%) to 4,653,422 in 2012/13